It was still the middle of the night, as far as I know. And yet there I was, still awake. My body ached for sleep. I had been walking and running all day, but I just couldn't go to sleep. At some point I had gotten up and headed down to the stream after checking if the other two were still asleep.
And so there I sat, watching the rushing water flow down the stream. I couldn't help but think about Shantae. No surprise there. She had been on my mind for the past few days. At this point, I would have made some sort of move on her. But I couldn't. I wasn't sure if she would continue to like me. She was some sort of half genie hero, and I was human.
"Hey, watcha doin' over here?" A voice suddenly asked from behind me. I nearly jumped out of my skin. I turned around to see Rottytops standing behind me, lively as ever.
"Ah, Sorry Rotty, did I wake you up?" I asked.
Rotty shook her head. "Nah. Sleeping isn't really that easy for me anyways. I get weird dreams sometimes." She said. Then she sat down by the stream, right next to me. "So what's up? Normally spending time next to a stream at night is cliché for having something on your mind."
She had a point.
There was no reason to lie to her. Besides, talking about it might do some good. "Well..it's about Shantae.." I began to say. "I.."
"You love her, right?!" Rotty suddenly finished my sentence, grinning smugly.
I got flustered. "S-Shh! You might wake her!" I said. "B-But, yeah...I'm pretty sure I love her..."
"You know, she's no good at hiding it either. She likes you too." Rotty said. "So I don't see the problem, just go for it!"
I contemplated it for a moment. "But..the thing is, what if I can't live up to her expectations?" I asked.
Rotty looked at me with a confused expression. She tilted her head a little. "What do you mean?" She asked.
I thought about it for a moment, trying to turn my feelings into words. "I mean..you said it earlier. I'm human. I don't think that's a bad thing, but she's half genie. She's so much more powerful than I am, and she loves this sort of thing. She practically begged me to come with her. But the thing is, I'm not really cut out for this particular activity. Most of my fights had to do with crazy luck, or being saved." I explained.
Rotty frowned a little. "That's not entirely true." She said. "I mean, you're not a good fighter. But you're smart. And you can improvise. I saw how you fought that Scorpgal when you both saved me. You were pretty awesome!" Rotty smiled a little. "And Shantae told me about how you destroyed Ammo Barons ship! It was lucky, but also pretty smart!"
I shrugged. "But, I didn't use any sort of magic, or any special transformation...it's just..what if she realizes I'm not good enough for her?" I asked. "I mean...you're a zombie girl, so you must get what I'm saying at least a little bit." I looked back towards the water. In a way, I knew Rotty was right. I was being ridiculous. But I couldn't rid myself of these doubts I had.
Rotty thought to herself for a moment. She started to shift, but I didn't pay much attention to what she was doing. I felt her hand grab onto my wrist, lifting my hand from the ground and pulling it towards her. I looked up to her, just in time to see her place my hand right over her bare breast.
She had taken her shirt off. I saw it laying in the grass right beside her. I also noticed that she wasn't wearing a bra, which made me think about how she hadn't been wearing one this whole time. Rotty had a small blush on her face, which made me think about how that might not have been anatomically possible for someone who was technically dead.
"R-Rotty, what are you-" I started to say, stammering. But Rotty interrupted me.
"I am a zombie, but I'm a girl too." She said, catching me off guard. "And so is Shantae. It doesn't matter if you can match up to her genie side. What matters is if you can make her happy. And from what I can tell, you do make her happy."
I sat there, unable to say anything. Both by the fact that she was right, and the fact that I was still groping her breast. Eventually, she let go of my wrist, and I simply let my hand fall to my side. As I sat there in silence, she started to put her shirt back on. "Don't stay up too long, I'm sure tomorrow will be just as tiring for you." She said as she stood up, beginning to walk away.
"W-Wait! I know you're right about what you said, but..why did I have to touch you to get that?" I asked curiously, still sort of unsure of what happened.
Rotty looked back at me before grinning. "Oh! You didn't have to. Truth is, I kind of like you too!" She said, before walking away, leaving me in disbelief.
I sat there in silence, thinking about all the things Rotty said. I realized that she was right. I was just being stupid about how Shantae must have felt. I did want to find the treasure, and Shantae wants to help me. But she was also excited to have someone come with her, so I needed to show her that I was enjoying my time with her as well. I didn't have to be an expert fighter or adventurer to tag along with her.
Realizing that I was still very tired, I decided it was probably best to go to sleep. Tomorrow, we'll be getting the treasure. And I don't want to be too tired for when we finally get it. So I walked back over to my spot and laid down. I glanced at Shantae, who was still asleep. Then, I closed my eyes, drifting off into a much needed slumber.
Hours later, I woke up to see Rotty shaking me. Hard. "Come on! Rise and shine!" She said. I started to sit up, groaning tiredly. I glanced around to see that Shantae had already woken up. She was observing the alter more.
"It's morning already?" I asked, almost annoyed to be woken up like that. But I decided to let it go. "I feel like I didn't get much sleep.."
"That's because you stayed up so late, dummy." Rotty responded. "But don't think for a second I'm letting you sleep in! Today's the day we're getting that treasure!" She finally let go of me and started to hop around the garden in excitement.
I started to get up, stretching my arms. While I felt a little tired, I was surprised that I didn't have a stiff neck at all, despite sleeping with no pillow.
Guess I'm just lucky, I thought.
Shantae came up to me with a bright smile, picking up my knapsack and handing it to me. "Mornin' sleepy head! I didn't think Rotty would be able to ever wake you up. You were out cold...did you have trouble sleeping?" She asked.
Why did she always have to be so cute?
I returned her smile and took my bag from her, slinging it over my shoulder. "Not really. I just had a lot on my mind is all." I said simply.
Shantae's smile faded slightly. But she still tried to look happy. "Ah, I see. Sorry about all this..I know you must not like it out here.." She said, brushing her hair out of the way of her face and looking away.
I chuckled a little before shrugging. "Honestly, it's not that bad. This is the most excitement I've had in a long while." I said. "Hell, if you'd want me to, I'd like to go on more trips like this with you."
Shantae practically glowed at me. "Really? I didn't think you were enjoying this.." She said. But she couldn't suppress her smile. "I would love if you came with me! I'll let you know the next time I head out!" She said excitedly.
I grinned. "Alright, it's a date then." I said. Shantae only blushed deeply in response before walking towards the entrance of the garden, as if rushing to get away from me. At first I thought I shouldn't have said that, but I managed to get a glimpse of her shy smile. I looked towards Rotty, who grinned and gave me a thumbs up. Then we both followed Shantae out the door after she pushed away the block that barricaded it.
Once we were all standing out in the hallway again, I glanced down both hallways that went to the left and right sides of the entrance. "Hm.." I rubbed my chin. "Which way do you think it is?" I asked.
"Well, in my experience with these sorts of things, I think it doesn't matter." Shantae said. "Either both hallways lead to one half of the solution, or they both lead to the same place, just on different sides."
"Ok, then I think we should head right first." I said. "It's probably not a good idea to split up. That bug monster from yesterday was weak, but there could still be something really strong lurking."
"Aye aye, Captain!" Rotty said, jokingly saluting me. I rolled my eyes in response, then looked at Shantae. She only smirked.
"Lead the way, 'Captain.'" She said. I sighed in defeat and looked down right side hallway. I began to walk down the hall, with the two girls following close behind.
The hallway was pretty short, debunking Shantae's earlier guess that it lead to the same way the left hallway did. Once we got to the end, we ended up in a large, wide open room. There was an enormous hole in the ground that divided the room into two sides. On the other side of the divide was nothing but a single, small chest. By the looks of it, it was already opened. Jumping across would have been impossible but luckily, there was a metal bridge going from one side to the other.
I walked up to the bridge and ran my fingers along the metal. It was sturdy, and...blue. There was something familiar about the design. Could it be...?
"Ammo Baron." Shantae said, finishing my train of thought. "He must be around here."
"Not exactly!" A female voice suddenly said from behind us. When we turned around, I noticed the two mecha robots hiding behind us in the shadows. They started to move towards us, with the gears and mechanisms whizzing with life. Both mechs were tall, but not much taller than ten feet. The chassis' were open, revealing the pilots that controlled them. They were two females, both of them blonde with stylishblue uniforms on.
"Twitch? Vinegar? What are you guys doing here?" Shantae asked, taken aback by the mechs they were piloting. And so was I. They were very intimidating. By the way they reacted to their names, I was able to tell them apart from one another. Twitch was the one with her goggles placed over her eyes. She wore a large blue helmet with a cartoonish cat face over it, with two raccoon tails sticking from the back. She had a small, tight shirt that hugged her breasts against her chest and showed off her stomach. A common fashion choice in Sequin Land, I've noticed. She had a blue skirt and a rather large gun with a multitude of barrels strapped to her leg. She was piloting the heavier mech with a large assortment of weapons loaded onto its shoulders and arms, including what I figured to be stun launchers, taser rifles and some sort of gatling gun.
The other one, Vinegar, wore a similar blue helmet and skirt, but had an orange collared shirt on that also tightly hugged her body. She had pink stripes on each of her cheeks, and blue high top boots.
She piloted the lighter mech that actually had no arms or guns. But the legs were more reinforced and nimble. It looked lighter too, so it could probably move faster.
And there I was, with nothing but a knapsack with random shit in it.
"We're here on duty!" Vinegar said, smirking a little at Shantae. "The higher ups sent us to get that treasure to fund the military!"
Twitch took her hands away from the controls of her mech to hold out some sort of scroll. "We have one of the keys to opening that big door! Now we just gotta nab the other one and we'll get promoted for sure!" She said with glee.
I blinked a little. What I wanted to say was, 'Not if I have anything to say about it!' But I was afraid she would point one of those canons at me and blast me into dust if I spoke up.
Still, that didn't stop Shantae. "As if! We didn't come this far to let you guys take the treasure!" She said, looking determined as ever. I decided to mimic her reaction and stood my ground. Besides, I really did need that treasure, so if there was going to be a fight, so be it.
"I'm gonna hide over here if you guys need me!" Rotty said, with suppressed fear as she took a number of large steps back. Not that I blamed her, of course.
"Alright then! It's on! Twitch, Battle Formation Alpha!" Vinegar called out triumphantly. Twitch seemed to get back to her controls and strided her mech back several feet, her guns beginning to wind up on command.
Shantae tried to start a transformation dance, but Twitch fired a stun grenade at her, interrupting her dance with a blinding flash.
"I won't let you transform, bitch!" Twitch said with a menacing grin. Shantae regained her sight and looked at her angrily.
"Fine, then I'll stick to my spells!" Shantae said, before launching a fireball at Twitch. "Fireball!" Twitch's mech was far too heavy to move quickly enough to dodge it, but it didn't seem to do a lot of damage. Shantae grumbled before stretching both arms out at equal length. "Scimitars!" She called. Suddenly, a dozen curved swords appeared from behind her, floating around in a circle around her as they rotated. One of the swords flew over to me, landing by my feet. Figuring she gave it to me on purpose, I picked it up quickly.
"I can take Twitch!" Shantae said. "See what you can do about Vinegar!" And with that, Shantae charged at Twitch, who began to shoot her guns at Shantae.
"Okay, I'll do my b—" Before I could answer, Vinegar's mech strided quickly towards be, kicking me right in the gut and launching me across the floor. "Gah—!" I groaned, struggling to get back up on my feet.
"What's the matter, good lookin'? Can't handle a little rough play~?" Vinegar cooed in an evil tone. I straightened myself up, looking at her. I couldn't help but give her a smug grin.
"Baby, I'm too rough for you to handle.." I bluffed. But even I wasn't sure I could stand up to her mechanized suit. Still, I noticed that there were hydraulic hoses exposed on the legs. I gripped the handle of the scimitar and eyed her down. If I could cut them as she rushed me, I could immobilize the entire mech. And since she had no weapons, the mech would be useless. So I got into a stance, practically inviting her to charge again.
"Is that so?" Vinegar grinned, the mech whizzing as it crouched into a running stance. "Then show me what you got!" Suddenly, the mech leaped at me, rushing me faster than I expected. Still, I had time to react. I stepped to the side and swung my scimitar straight into the legs. I managed to dig the blade deep into the mech's left leg, cutting the hydraulics as planned. But the mech stumbled in response and fell on me, nearly crushing me.
"Gah! You idiot!!" Vinegar yelled in anger in her now ruined mech. "Do you know how much work it was to build this thing?!" She started to force the chassis open, hopping out.
I groaned as I climbed out from underneath the mech, looking over to where Twitch and Shantae were fighting. Twitch had the upper hand. Clearly she built her mech to counter Shantae's dances and spells with her stun and shock launchers. Shantae brought her hand together, trying to start some sort of lightning spell. But Twitch launched a taser gun at her, and the probes stuck to her, the wires shocking her with no mercy. Shantae yelled in pain.
I had to help. I struggled a little to pull the scimitar out of Vinegar's mech leg, but I managed to force it out. I started to run to Twitch. Since her back was towards me, I had to advantage.
"Twitch! Look—" Vinegar almost warned her, but Rotty came up to her from behind and put her hand over her mouth. I made the mental note to thank Rotty later.
I ran up to Twitch's mech and jumped up, landing on its back.
"What the—?" Twitch muttered, trying to turn towards me. But I was holding on tight. I stabbed the scimitar into the taser rifle, destroying it. The shock wires deactivated, freeing Shantae.
Shantae pulled the probe off of her and looked at Twitch. "Now it's your turn!" Shantae said, straightening her body and bringing her hands together again. Powerful sparks of electricity came from the space in between her hands as she charged her spell. I hopped off the mech, knowing what was coming.
Shantae suddenly fired a beam of lightning at Twitch, shocking the mech with powerful waves of electricity. Once the spell was over, the mech was practically searing, before falling over dramatically. Twitch crawled out of the mech and groaned. Her helmet was gone, and her blonde hair was spiked up from the electricity.
"Huh..did we just win?" I asked, smirking a little. Vinegar came running to Twitch, picking her up.
"You may have won now, but we'll be back with better mechs!" She said, running out the door with Twitch in her arms.
Rotty came up to me and Shantae, hopping with excitement. "That was so cool!!" She squealed. "The way you cut out those legs! And the way you shot that lightning at them! That was so badass!"
Shantae only laughed a little. "Well, I couldn't do it without Y/N's help." She said.
I only grinned, rubbing the back of my head. "Well, I was using your sword, so technically I only was able to help because—" Before I could finish my sentence, Shantae grabbed my vest and pulled me in for a quick, sweet kiss.
She pulled away and blushed. "Shut up and take the compliment, dummy." She said. All I could do was grin like an idiot.
"Compliment taken." I said simply.
Shantae rolled her eyes and walked over to Twitch's wrecked mech. I glanced over at Rotty, who smirked at me and made an 'O' sign with one hand, and sticking her other index finger in and out of it. I shook my head in response.
"Hey! They dropped that scroll!" Shantae said, pulling it out from the wreckage. Me and Rotty immediately came over to her, looking over her shoulders to look at it as she unrolled it.
"What is it..?" Rotty asked.
When I got a good look, I saw that it was a bunch of pictures of different dance poses. Shantae's face lit up with excitement. "It's a genie dance!" She said.
"Wait, seriously? Like a transformation dance?" I asked curiously, looking over the poses. Now that I knew what it was, it was actually just step-by-step directions to the full dance. But by the looks of it, it was only half of the full dance.
"Well, it's not the whole dance.." Shantae said. "And I don't know if it's a transformation dance. It takes two genies to do the dance. It's probably some sort of spell."
"Huh. That's..pretty cool actually." I said, rubbing my chin. "But what does it have to do with the seal?"
"I don't know. But it'll probably be more clear when we get the other half. I bet that's where the left side leads to." Shantae said.
"Then we got no time to waste, right? Let's go!" Rotty said with excitement.
I looked over at Shantae. She nodded in agreement with Rotty. "Right. But we have to be careful, in case Ammo Baron is here." She said.
I thought about the first and only time I met Ammo Baron. He probably isn't too happy with me. "Right. Hate to run into him again." I said.
The three of us started to leave the room, back into the hallway. Once he reached the entrance to the garden, we looked towards the left side hallway. I looked at my friends, and they nodded to me. Guess I was leading. Again.
I took a deep breath, and led us into the dark hallway.